RSPD: Hunting Der Ritter
by KisaShika
Summary: Penny Arcade: Precipice of Darkness/Slender Man mythos crossover. Startling Developments is surprised when a customer comes in asking for help with an unknown entity- can Tycho and Gabe take care of it or will they need help from some old friends?
1. The unknown

The setting sun cast a low, reddish light through the window of Startling Developments Detective Agency. Tycho was relaxed in a recliner, reading a small novel; soft music playing from Div. Gabriel occupied himself with punching the speed bag that he had set up, so he could practice even when they were a little low on work. Tycho gazes at Gabe from over the edge of the novel, glasses slipping to the bridge of his nose. "Gabriel, you've been beating that poor bag senseless for the past three hours. Don't you have anything better to do with your free time? Why don't you pick up a hobby?" Gabe stares at Tycho for a moment, before answering.

"Why would I want to do something else? If you haven't noticed, I kinda like punching stuff. Anything really," Gabe answered

.  
>"Yes. I have noticed your love of... Punching things. But, honestly, it's all that you do. Why not try painting or reading or thinking?"He pushes the glasses back up his nose, and goes back to reading. "Actually, nevermind about that last one." For a moment, Gabe seems to actually be considering the options Tycho has presented him with.<p>

"Well, what if I painted a picture of a guy punching stuff? Or maybe there are books about punching stuff…?" Tycho only gives Gabe a blank stare.

"I- I just... You know what, just keep punching that bag, Gabriel. It's probably better for your health than thinking," He sighed. Before Gabriel could retort, a loud rapping on the door drew both of their attention. "Hm? Looks like we have company, Gabriel," He observed, before bookmarking his page, and then sets his glasses atop his novel.

"H-hello?" A voice from the other side of the door calls, before knocking again. Stepping away from the beaten bag, Gabriel opens the door. The lady was about to knock again, and instead accidentally raps her knuckles against Gabe's chest. "Uh, oh, I-I'm sorry, s-sir…" She once again glances around herself, obviously unnerved by something.

"Greetings, ma'am," Tycho stands up, and walks over to the door, and gives a curt bow. "Is there anything we can assist you with?"  
>"I-is this the S-startling Developments office?" She asks.<p>

"Yeah, it is," Gabriel nods.

"Then, I am in need of your services…" Once again, she glances about before speaking again. "May I come in?" She whispers.  
>"Sure," Gabe steps out of the doorway, allowing her to come in.<p>

"Thank you…" She stops momentarily, to remove her feathery hat. "M-my name is Francesca Cadberry and I request... N-no, plead that you two help me..." She opens her purse, pulling out a billfold, and then holds out a small stack of bills. "I will pay up front." Tycho's eyes widen a little at the sight of the bills.

"What do you request of our services- Vampire slaying? Demon expelling?" He inquires, before he begins to pace back and forth, averting his eyes from the cash. Gabe, on the other hand, stares at the money for a moment, then looks back to the woman, curious of what task she has for them that she has deemed so important.

"N-no. I don't know what it is... B-but it lives in the forest behind my house." The open window catches her eye, and she freezes. "C-can you p-please close the b-blinds on the window..." She begs, becoming noticeably even more upset. Gabe gives her an odd look. While most of their customers are usually eccentric, he hasn't seen someone this paranoid before. But he grants her request anyways, pulling down the blinds. "T-thank you…" She takes a moment to calm herself, before she continues. "I don't know what it is... But it stands at my windows late at night... It doesn't have a face a-and..." She hugs herself tightly, before continuing. "It whispers things to me in my sleep..."

"Hmmm…." Tycho puts a hand on his chin, as he contemplates what kind of otherworldy spectre could be the source of her terror. "Have you had any deaths in your family recently?"

"Yeah, because this sounds a lot like a ghost. They like to do creepy stuff like that, especially if they're angry." Gabe butted in.

"Actually, y-yes. My father passed away a few months ago, but it couldn't be him... He loved me very much," The woman sighs. "But this thing... It isn't my father. It has been following me around for a few weeks now... I-I wasn't too worried at first..." She trails off. "Until..."

"Until what?" He asks, turning to face her.

"I found Alphonse dead on my front porch..." She buries her face in her hands, trying to hide the tears that trickled down her face as she quietly sobbed.  
>"Oh, uh, I'm really sorry to hear that… Who's Alphonse?" Gabe asked.<p>

"He was my pet Lemur..." She sniffed, wiping her face with a hanky. " And I just know it was that... That thing... Because it told me it was going to do it."  
>"Can you describe the creature in detail? It's quite difficult to tell if it's a malevolent being or just a psycopath." Tycho requested, showing no interest in what had happened Francesca's exotic pet.<p>

"Yeah, it could have been, like, a hobo. Those guys are crazy as shit, man. Or maybe somebody who just had something against lemurs. Or a hobo with something against lemurs..." Gabe stops himself, realizing he is rambling when Tycho shoots him a quick glare.

"W-well... It's tall. Not like, tall like either of you men- like, really tall. Probably about nine to ten feet... It has a white face and... Well, no face... Umm... It also wears a black dress suit and red tie..." She explained as well as she could. Gabe raises an eyebrow, to show his interest.

"So I guess Hobo is out of the question now," He comments. Tycho is absorbed in his own thoughts, his brow furrowed with concentration.

"Where have I heard that description before..." Tycho walked over to one of his shelves, pulling out what seemed to be a very old bestiary from the shelves, and began flipping through the pages, as to stimulate his memory.

"So, like, seriously 9 foot tall? That's like, a lot taller than me. Wait, you said it doesn't have a face? So like... How does it watch you? Because it would be really hard to see much of anything without eyes..." Gabe comments, trying to avoid an awkward silence.

"I'm not entrirely sure how it works... But it followed me here today... That's why I asked you to close the window... So, c-can you help me?" Tycho was still busy flipping through the book, mumbling to himself.

"I'm sure it won't be a problem, right Tycho?" Gabe nudges him in the ribs, earning an himself an icy glare from Tycho. He was not one who like having his train of thought interrupted.

"Hm? Oh, yes, yes. But until we know exactly what we are dealing with, we won't know a price," Tycho informed.

"Money is not an issue." She places the money from before on the desk "Will you be able to start now?" Gabe looks pleadingly at Tycho, his eagerness to finally punch something that might fight back very evident. He eyes Gabe back, slowly smiling.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"So, where do we need to go to take care of this thing?" Gabe asked, cracking his knuckles.

"My home. I will also provide residence for you, if need be," Francesca said.

"Sounds good. Just give us a little time to get ready," Gabe informed.

After a ride to the edge of New Arcadia, and a somewhat long walk, they arrived at the front gate to an impressively sized mansion, which was set against the backdrop of a large forest. Francesca opened the large gate, and its hinges squealed as it moved. She closed and padlocked it, then lead them up to the front porch. Gabe is shocked by the size of it, especially compared to the dingy office/apartment he has been living in since he'd been hired at Startling Developments. "This place is huge… What do you even do with this much space?"

"Um, live?" She answered, unlocking the double doors. "Please, feel free to make yourselves at home."

"We won't need to. Can you show us the woods where the creature in question lives?" Tycho asked. Gabriel frowns at this, somewhat dissappointed at not getting a chance to poke around the large mansion, but quickly forgets it upon remembering the prospect of fighting some crazy demon thing.  
>"Y-yes, it's just out back." She leads the men through a main corridor, that splits off into several other smaller hallways.<p>

Gabe walks a considerable distance behind the group, taking in all of the fancy decor and whatnot. The doors on either side of the hall tempt him, and he stops momentarily to open a door and peer inside. A cat walked out of the door, and glanced up at Gabe. He leaned down to pet it, but the cat doesn't even give him a second glance, instead walking away, being all "fuck you, I'm a cat" like. Before Gabe can even contemplate whether to get genuinely angry over this or not, Tycho glanced back at him, noticing Gabe was at the other end of the hallway. "Gabriel, what are you doing?" He inquired. He looks up, his attention drawn away from the cat.

"Um… Looking for clues?"

"I highly doubt a creature can get into the house if it is nine foot tall," Tycho replied. "Now come on." Gabe rejoined the other two as they continued down the hallway.

"We're almost at the backdoor," Francesca informed.

"So, this thing lives in the woods, right?" Gabe asked.

"I'm not sure, but I see it standing in the woods when it's not at a window..." She answers. She opens the back door for them but doesn't step out, like an invisible barrier forbade her from doing so. "I-I'm sorry, men, but I refuse to go any further than this..." She apologized.

"That's okay. You ready Tycho?" He asked, turning to his companion. Tycho positions the rifle on his back.

"Let's do it." Gabe adjusts his spiked brass knuckles, before they stride out of the front door, and across the backyard towards the forest whose gnarled branches spanned out over head, and were grown so closely together all they saw when they looked into the forest was a swirling blackness. When they stepped inside of the forest, it was noticeably cooler, and damp. Even with the oil lamp that Gabe had brought , they could only see a few feet around them, due to the thick canopy. They stepped lightly through the woods, and Tycho was attentive to every single noise, right down to the breaking of twigs underfoot. He scanned the area warily, keeping an eye out for any motion. Gabe walked beside Tycho, his fists raised, ready to start punching the first thing that they came across.

"Man, these trees are everywhere. I don't know how we're supposed to be looking for this thing if we can barely see already," Gabe complained.  
>"I feel almost the same way, but we were paid up front. We have to at least act live we've done some kind of work before returning." Tycho suddenly stopped, glancing behind Gabe. He squints his eyes, searching the darkness behind him. Giving Tycho a quizzical look, he stops.<p>

"What, something wrong?" Gabe asks. Gabe looked behind him, and the only thing he could see were trees, trees, and a few more trees. "I just see a bunch of trees. And sometimes trees move whenever there's wind. So it was probably just trees." Tycho casts a suspicious look into the forest, as he was too certain about what he saw.

"Trees don't move like what I saw... Let's continue on..." He said, after he finally dismissed the incident. Gabe shrugged and followed after Tycho, not thinking much of what just happened, since Tycho can get really paranoid over stuff like that.

More wandering aimlessly around the dark forest ensued, as they searched for what they weren't sure was even a real creature. Tycho hadn't lowered his guard yet, but Gabe had become absorbed in thinking about going back to the mansion, and couldn't help but feel really excited about getting to stay the night. In the middle of his thought, something had brushed against his shoulder. His immediate reaction led to him swinging and yelling like a mad man. Tycho whipped out his gun, aiming at where Gabe was punching.

"GABRIEL! What? Why are you yelling?" Tycho shouted. He stops, realizing he's just punching at thin air.

"Something kept touching me, and I know it wasn't a tree."

"Are you sure? There are quite a lot of trees around us."

"Yeah, but- it didn't feel like a tree. But whatever, it's gone now," Gabe said.

"If it is that creature, it doesn't seem to be doing any real harm…" Tycho observed.

"Yeah, so far it looks like it just likes hanging in the woods and fucking with people. Maybe he's just being an asshole because he's angry about not having a face," He said, kicking a stone in his path.

"I agree. Let's go back to the house. Maybe we can stay for the night and try again in the morning," Tycho suggested.

"Sound like a plan," Gabe agreed. The two men turned around, as to go back the way they came.

"But, there is something bothering me…" Tycho said, placing a hand on his chin.

"Like what?"

"The way she described it... I've heard of a creature like it before... I just can't seem to remember where."

"Maybe it's just some sort of demon? Those can take on a bunch of different shapes, right?"

"It's possible. I'm sure a week from now I will remember where it's from."

"Yeah, probably…"

Once again, Tycho came to a sudden stop, looking around. "What now?" Gabe asked.

"...Which way did we come from?" Gabe opens his mouth momentarily to reply, but quickly shuts it upon realizing that he also had no idea of where they were.

"Shit."

Another noise catches both of their attention this time; whatever had been following them seems to have stopped trying to hide itself, and is circling around them, just out of the reach of the light their lantern casts. "Okay, I'm really, really sure that's not a tree now,"

"Yeah…" Tycho tried trailing his gun on the creature following them, but it was moving swiftly, and the darkness only made it harder to aim. " Damn it, I can't see anything!"

The creature was obviously agitated now, as it swiped at Gabe with what looked like some sort of tendril. Spotting it just in time, he started to swing at it, trying to hit it. "What the fuck?" The creature jumped back, now swinging at both men.

"MOTHERFUCKER!" Tycho yelled, firing at the tendril.

"Okay, so yeah, this is DEFINITELY not a fucking hobo. Also, I think we pissed it off." Gabe said. Tycho ducked, avoiding a swipe from one of the tendrils.  
>"What tipped you off?" He shouted, before firing at the creature's torso. The bullets seemed to just go right through him, and the wounds quickly disappeared, as it seemed they were filled with a thick goo, before becoming a dull black to blend with the suit this thing wore. It stopped moving, and instead swept in closer, so that the men could finally see this thing's lack-of-face.<p>

"Okay, if bullets don't work, what the hell do we do?" Gabe shouted.

"Have you tried punching it? That worked on the devil!" Gabriel nods, lunging at the monster, and unleashing a flurry of punches at its gut. While Gabe was distracted, the entity snaked a tendril around Gabe's ankle, yanking him into the air.

"Fuck! Get this thing off of me!" Gabriel screamed as he swung back and forth, trying to get close enough to punch the being again. Tycho steadies his aim for long enough to shoot at the tendril, making it disappear, and drop Gabe. He reaches down and yanks Gabe up from the ground by his shirt.

"Let's go. NOW," Tycho commanded. Gabe nods fervently, and the two dash off in a random direction, hoping it will lead to the mansion. They both can hear the creature following after them, it's bizarre, long strides slowly catching up with them. They continue running, not daring to look back. Tycho spots the lights from the mansion, dashing to the middle of the backyard before stopping abruptly. Gabe, who was right behind him, found difficulty in stopping, and nearly tripped over Tycho. He was breathing heavily, but still readied himself, in case whatever was in those woods still wanted a fight. The creature approaches the edge of the woods, but stops, and continues to stand there for a moment. Tycho stares down the creature as it lingers at the edge of the forest, before it turns away, returning to it's territory. A few moments passed as the men stared at the edge of the forest, speechless. Tycho then turned to Gabe. "I call bathroom first," He said.

"Dammit." Tycho then turned back around, and headed up to the mansion. Gabe followed, after throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder towards the forest.

Shortly after, Tycho leaned against the headboard of the plush bed, with another one of his mythological creature books in hand, this one being titled "Dwellers of the Forest". With a sigh he closed it, still finding nothing like what they encountered in the woods. "So, what do we do now? We still don't know what that thing is, or even worse, how to kill it," Gabe said as he laid on the bed that was next to Tycho's.

"Gabe, remember that 'no talking if we're going to share a room' rule? You're breaking it right now," Tycho reminded him. When they returned from the forest, and requested a room from Francesca, Gabe insisted they share a room, as a safety measure. Of course Tycho knew that meant he was being a pussy.

"Well, I'm just saying…" Gabe retorted. A thought seemed to come to Tycho, as he set the book on the nightstand.

"Tomorrow, we're going on a trip," He said. Gabe's expression lightened up.

"To the fair?" He asked eagerly.

"No, Gabriel- to visit a few old friends of ours," He replied. Gabe paused for awhile, as the gears turned in his mind, trying to recall if Tycho had ever even had friends.

"Oh! You mean Sonja and Chrissy?"

"Yes." Tycho holds his hand up before Gabe has a chance to speak again. "And no, you don't have to wear the dress this time."

"Oh thank god."


	2. The Known

When morning came, the two men were already up, and preparing to leave. Francesca had barely caught them on their way out. "Where are you two off to?" She asked, her worried tone of voice practically begged them to stay.

"We're going to talk with some people who might help us," Gabe answered.

"Should I stay here, or come with you…?" Francesca wondered, a little uneasy about being left alone.

"It is probably best you stay here, ma'am. We will be back before nightfall. Stay indoors," Tycho said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Yeah, Don't worry. I don't think that thing could get in the house, so you'll be fine for the day," Gabe assured.

"Please hasten. I'm afraid of what it will do now that others know…" She led them to the front door.

"We'll be quick as possible," Gabe said. Tycho nodded to the woman, and she gave an almost reluctant wave as the two take the winding path back to the gate. A man at the gate opens it for them, and Francesca watched the two men until they disappeared from sight. After she retreated back into her spacious mansion, she locked the door, and hoped the two men would keep their word.

Now on a deserted dirt path, the two men trekked towards the direction of the city. "Are you sure she'll be okay? I mean you saw what that thing did last night…" Gabe said.

"Sadly, Gabriel- I am not sure. But that means we must get to The Bewitching Rune, before something happens to her… or even us," Tycho answered, his eyes still concentrated on the long, dusty path ahead.

"So what makes you think that Sonja will know what this thing is if you don't, considering you're the one who went to college for shit like this?"

"Maybe she'll be able to jog my memory with some potion or shit. I don't know." Tycho then turns to look at Gabe. "But, I don't know about you- I really fucking wanted to get away from that house."

"Yeah, I don't blame you. Between what we saw in the woods, and that rude fucking cat-"

"Rude cat?"

"Yeah! I tried to be nice to it, but it just went off, and ignored me like some asshole."

"Gabriel, it was a cat. Cats ARE assholes."

"Well, I've met nicer cats," Gabriel argued.

"Kemper is not just any cat, Gabriel." Tycho stared at the other. "He is a sophisticated feline with a fine taste." He stopped suddenly to gaze into the distance. "He's just a person... In a cat's body..." Tycho's thoughts seem to trail off to somewhere else after speaking, and lets out an almost longing sigh. A place deep in the academic's mind where no one wanted to trek.

Gabe give him a quizzical, slightly disgusted look. " No, he's not. People can't be in cat bodies." Tycho stares intently at Gabe.

"You don't know… You don't…" He speaks in a hushed whisper.

An awkward silence consumes the two, as Tycho continues to stare at him "Oh! Hey, looks like we're almost back to New Arcadia. We should be able to get a ride to the area that Sonja and Chrissy work." Gabe exclaims, thankful for the distraction. Tycho is broken from his… Fond thoughts.

"AHEM. Yes. Yes. You're right. We need to catch a cab." He pauses for a moment. "Not it."

With a frustrated sigh, Gabe mutters "Dammit."

The streets in the city are busy, and filled with traffic. There are plenty of cabs around, but no one wants to stop for the hairy bear-man that is Gabe. "What do I have to do to make one of these fuckers stop?" Gabe yelled, exasperated.

"Why not show them some leg? Works with the ladies," Tycho sniggered. He gives Tycho a disapproving look, but it's really his only choice left. He inches toward the street, and quickly glances around, to make sure no one is paying direct attention to him, and proceeds to pull up his pant leg, revealing a shin that was covered in what could only be identified as fur at this point.

Tycho only stared in disbelief, not expecting him to even consider his idea. "I can't believe you actually did that."

"Well, some people slowed down, right?"

"Yeah, it's a surprise no one had a wreck," Tycho said, standing up from his place on the bench. Gabe shot him a poisonous glare. Tycho ignores it. "Well, it seems we've caught Arcadia during rush hour. We might have to hoof it from here."

"That's fine by me. Which way do we have to go?"

"Well, the shortest route is through Hobo Alley."

"Oh. Wonderful," Gabe replied, crinkling his nose in disgust.

"The longer way is around the piers." Gabe's expression does not improve. "It just depends how desperate we are to get there quickly."

"Let's go through Hobo Alley. At least there aren't any mimes."

"Agreed. Hobo Alley it is." He begins to walk, but then stops, turning to Gabe. "And please, don't look any of them in the eyes."

"But-" Tycho gives him a stern look.

"No." Gabe, who wasn't in the mood to argue, grumbled angrily, and followed after Tycho.

They arrived at Hobo Alley, which was still not the most inviting of places. The buildings were in shambles, and feral hobos wandered aimlessly down the street, past the cardboard abodes of the fellow homeless. Gabe covered his nose, and attempted to keep from gagging. "I really, really hate how everything smells like pee." Tycho is doing the same thing, except also holding onto his bag for dear life.

"That's the life of a hobo," He said. Meanwhile, they seemed to have attracted the attention of a stray hobo, who followed closely behind them. Gabe was aware of the hobo's presence, but due to his earlier promise, he was unable to turn around and confront the smelly homeless man like he wished to.

Ignoring the hobo, Tycho's pace quickened, while he tried simultaneously not to vomit. Another two hobos joined the first, making the odor that followed them even more rank .

"I'd hate to tell you this, but I don't think we're going to avoid a fight," Gabe noticed.

"The fuck we are. I am not going to lose any of my shit fighting these guys."

"Well, then we should probably run like crazy." One of the hobos belched loudly, and around that time was when Tycho decided it would be best to take off, with Gabe following close behind. Their attempt to flee to sanitary grounds instead leads them to a metal fence, just tall enough to be climbed over with a boost from someone else.

"Fuckfuckfuck," Tycho muttered under his breath. He turned to see the mob of hobos getting closer. "YOU. OVER. NOW." He tossed his bag over the fence and crouched to give Gabe a boost. He climbed over the fence, and looked at Tycho from the other side.

"What about you?" Gabe asked.

"I'll improvise. Just keep up with the bag. It has our stuff in it. Our important stuff," Tycho said, as the drunken hobos still stumbled towards him.  
>Gabe nodded, and hesitantly ran off, hoping his companion would be alright.<p>

After he got a few blocks down the street to a more hygienic part of town, he stood at the corner, to wait for Tycho. About an hour passed, and there was still no sign of him. Just as Gabe was contemplating whether to go on without him, or to wait a little longer, the man in question appeared at the far end of the street, stumbling and mumbling, while occasionally staggering. Gabe approaches him, somewhat surprised he's even alive. "What happened in there?" He asked.

"Hobo's happened," Tycho said in a distant, somewhat detached voice. "Question- Do I smell?" Gabriel leaned forward, taking a cautious sniff, and his expression contorted to reflect his disgust.

"Um- Yeah. Really bad. Like- I don't know what that is."

"Okay."Tycho continued to shuffle his feet across the ground. "Let's Continue."

At the Bewitching Rune, Chrissy and Sonja were hard at work. Sonja brushed a few strands of her strawberry blonde hair from her face, putting the large wooden stick she had been using to stir the bubbling vat of potion to the side. "Chrissy!" Her apprentice looked up from her work station, pushing her large rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah?" She answered.

"Where is that new bottle of Essence of Frog?"

"Oh, it's here on the shelf, I'll get it." She pulled out the stepladder, and used it to get to the higher shelfs. "Let's see, Essence of Frog, Essence of Frog- Ah, got it!" She grabbed the vial, and hopped off of the stepladder, bringing it to Sonja.

"Thank you." She accepted the bottle and poured some of its contents into the cauldron, causing a large puff of green smoke to billow upwards.  
>"No problem. So what're we making again?"<p>

"Right now? This is a hexing potion for that woman who wanted revenge on her ex-husband," Sonja explained as she dropped in a few unidentifiable leaves in the mix. "How's that other potion coming along?"

"I'm still working on it. We're a little short on lamb's blood, but Apon should be back with some any time now…" She answered.

"Good." Sonja stirred the potion a little more. A loud knock is heard at the door.

"I've got it," Chrissy volunteers, walking to the storefront. She cracks the door open a little, surprised to see both Gabe and Tycho. "Oh! Hello!" She crinkled her nose at the vile smell emanating from Tycho. "What is that?"

"Odeur de Hobo," Tycho Replied.

"Chrissy, who is it?" Sonja shouts, unable to see over the piles of books.

"It's Tycho and Gabe!"

"Really? Let them in!" Sonja instructed, as she put in the final ingredients, then wiped her hands clean.

"Greeting ladies," Tycho smiles. Chrissy stepped out of the way, letting the two men in.

"It's been awhile, huh?" Chrissy asked.

"Yeah, it has."

"It has been quite some time- but we aren't here for leisure," Tycho explained, as he steps into the cluttered room.

"Then what business do you have?" Sonja inquired.

"Well, there's this thing that we think you might know what it is." Gabe answers.

"Well, what is it? A demon, a ghost, what?" Sonja asked.

"I have no idea. It's scary as hell though. It has no face."

"And it is definitely malevolent. It attacked us," Tycho informed as he walked around the room, inspecting the various jars full of liquids and body parts.  
>"Where did you guys run into this thing?" Chrissy wondered.<p>

"In the woods," Gabe replied.

"Hmm, no face…" Sonja said, thinking for a moment. "Where have I heard that before…" She pondered, while pacing around.

"Yes, the woods. It blended in with the trees," Tycho said, adding on to Gabe's previous statement.

"Chrissy, where is that volume of Oder Der Schwarzwald?"

"Um, it's in the back room. Do you want me to go get it?" Chrissy replied.

"No, I'll get it," Sonja declined, as she began to walk off. "Entertain our guests if you will," She added before disappearing into another room.

"Oder der Schwarzwald? The Black Forest..." Tycho said. The cauldron that Sonja had been stirring earlier continued to bubble, and on occasion it would make a loud 'pop'. Startled, Tycho jumped a bit at the noise. "What in-" He muttered as he leaned over to look.

"Um, I'd be careful, you really don't want to get that on you…" Chrissy warned.

"What is it? It smells foul," Tycho asked.

"Well, it's a hexing potion. It's really hard to explain what it does, but the best way Sonja put it was something along the lines of 'snakedick'…"

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad. It's happened to me once or twice-" Before Tycho could elaborate on the subject, Sonja returned, a large book in tow.

"Found it!" She exclaimed, stumbling a little.

"Are you sure you don't need help with that…?" Chrissy offered.

"Nope, I've got it." She wobbled a little from the weight, and puts it on the table. "Okay, you said faceless, right Gabriella- I mean Gabe?" Gabe ignored the slip-up, instead he looked at the ancient book.

"Yeah, and it was really white."

"I think I might know what you two encountered, then," She said as she flipped through the book.

"Really?" Tycho asked, leaning over to read the book with her.

"Oh, good someone finally knows what's going on," Gabe said.

"So, what's going on, anyways? What were you doing running around in a forest?" Chrissy inquired.

"A woman showed up at our office asking for help. Said she was being stalked by a tall creature in a suit and tie," Tycho explained. Chrissy's face seemed to get a little pale at the mention of its attire, and visibly shuddered.

Sonja continued flipping through, and at one point stopped to read a few paragraphs. But after that she continued on, until a picture caught her eye. "Like this?" She asked. The picture was an illustration of a tall, bony, and many-limbed creature, impaling what seemed to be a human man, but was very short compared to it, with one of the many appendages. Gabe and Chris had joined in looking at the book.

"That's definitely it," Gabe declared.

"Der Ritter… I remember now! We studied this in Apocalyptics, when we were going over Germany… Many people over there had mistaken this thing for the actual God of Death," Tycho exclaimed. Gabe squinted at the name, while trying to pronounce it.

"De- Der Rifter? Der Ridder?" He attempted.

"Ritter," Sonja corrected, as she turned a page. "Der Ritter is a creature of German descent- it's treated like an angel of death."

"Right! They're usually native to Germany. The first solid evidence of these beings were found in woodcuts by a man named Hans Freckenberg, which depicted a many-limbed, skeletal creature. Most people considered it odd, because it was a huge contrast compared to his more realistic woodcuts. Also, I believe 'Der Ritter' actually translates to 'The Knight'..."

"Yes, it does. Because at first. when he was seen, it was during battles when death was heavy in the air," Sonja answered. She kept flipping through the pages, the pictures depicting the creature changing ever so slightly.

"If we really encountered Der Ritter, I have a question," Tycho said.

"What would that be?" Chris replied.

"What is it doing here?" Chris thinks for a moment, unable to come up with anything.

"Sonja? You know more about this than me. What would this thing be doing here?"

"That's a good question… Considering it has a habit of stalking its victims, it could have followed one of them over here. But… Gabe, you said it attacked you?" Sonja asked.

"Yeah, it did."  
>"Usually Der Ritter aren't hostile unless..." Sonja paused for a moment. "One second, I'll be right back." Once again, Sonja left to the back room.<p>

"Usually aren't? From what we were told before hand, it had killed the woman's pet," Tycho informed. Sonja returned with another book.

"They aren't. Der Ritter usually just feeds off of anguished souls, and drives whoever it's stalking to insanity. They are known to kill, but only for food, not just to kill." She set down the new book, which was even older and dustier than the previous. "And they don't eat animals. But there is another creature that does-"She flipped through a few more pages.

"Like what?" Gabe asked. Sonja stops on another page.

"Kubwa Popo," Tycho reads off. Chris grimaced at the mentioning of the name.

"A what?" Gabe asked.

"A Kubwa Popo is a demon of African origins, although it isn't uncommon for them to pop up other places. They're very territorial, especially around other demons," Tycho explained.

"So if these two have picked the same territory, or even worse, the same victim, that would without a doubt make Der Ritter become agitated and aggressive enough to actually start attacking people," Sonja added, closing the book.

"Okay, now that we know what these things are, we just need to know how to kill them. Mainly that 'Der Ritter' thing," Gabe said, looking a little more optimistic about the situation.

"There's the issue…" Sonja said. Gabe gave her a quizzical look, tilting his head to the side a bit. Chrissy let out a little sigh before speaking.

"You don't."


End file.
